One after another, scientific publications document the accumulation of microplastics in the oceans and, through it, the threat that this out of control pollution poses to marine ecosystems. On the other hand, they are much rarer to focus on their presence in the soil. A new study published Thursday, December 26 by the Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe) finally fills this void for France. The results, to which The World had access, reveal a “almost systematic presence” : three quarters of French soils are contaminated by microplastics, that is to say plastic fragments less than 5 millimeters (mm) in diameter.
To establish what constitutes the “first national references” on contamination of French soils by microplastics, Ademe mobilized the soil quality measurement network of the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE). In total, 33 soil samples distributed throughout the metropolitan territory and representing a variety of uses were analyzed by the Dupuy Research Institute in Lôme, in Lorient (Morbihan). Microplastics were found in 25 samples, or 76% of the total.
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